Interesting observations published in the Washington Post:
…conclusion of a scholarly study published in Scientific Reports in February, entitled “Human behaviour can trigger large carnivore attacks in developed countries,” …
Researchers, led by Vincenzo Penteriani, found that while attacks on humans by large carnivores were increasing, they remained “extremely rare events,” …
“Remarkably,” they wrote, “risk-enhancing human behaviour has been involved in at least half of the well-documented attacks (47.6%). From highest to lowest, the five most common human behaviours occurring at the time of an attack were (a) parents leaving children unattended, (b) walking an unleashed dog, (c) searching for a wounded large carnivore during hunting, (d) engaging in outdoor activities at twilight/night and (e) approaching a female with young. These are clearly risk-enhancing behaviours when sharing the landscape with large carnivores.”
In the Christian Science Monitor:
…Jessica Mendoza reported in August:
In general, fatal bear attacks are rare. From 1980 to 2011, about 90 million people visited Yellowstone, the National Park Service estimates. In that same period, 43 people were injured by bears in the park. Grizzly attacks on humans are even less common, averaging about 1 incident every 11 years for visitors who stay in the park’s developed areas and about 1 a year in backcountry areas.
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